Interest of people of TS to fly to new places helps RGIA recover

Hyderabad: The people of Telangana like to fly to new places for holidays. And that, according to the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), has helped the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here recover from the Covid impact faster than any other metro airport in the country. The GHIAL, which operates the RGIA, said on […]

Hyderabad: The people of Telangana like to fly to new places for holidays. And that, according to the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), has helped the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here recover from the Covid impact faster than any other metro airport in the country.

The GHIAL, which operates the RGIA, said on Monday that there was ‘an earnest interest in the people of Telangana and adjacent States to visit newer holiday destinations such as Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand etc..

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“Though overall international travel was subdued during the prolonged Covid-19 period, RGIA added flights to two new international destinations, Chicago and Maldives, which got exceptional response from travelers. It also added a flight to London. All these flights have shown a high load factor with a high yield which is a testimony to the strong demand for international travel from the region,” it said.

Hyderabad’s “right mix of passenger traffic”, MNCs, corporates, visiting friends and relatives, tourists and students, also helped RGIA recover fast, it said, adding that Hyderabad had emerged as the fourth busiest airport in India now.

“We have witnessed the recovery at a very consistent pace. Compared to 55 domestic destinations in the pre-Covid period, Hyderabad is now connected to around 70 domestic destinations,” the GHIAL said.

Airlines also have been reaping the influx of passenger traffic from different parts of India that can be transferred via Hyderabad to the world.

“The transfer traffic increased from 9 per cent in 2015 to 26 per cent in 2022. This reflects how the geographical location has helped airlines to create a hub and spoke model effectively at RGIA, which is the only airport in the country where all the 10 domestic airlines fly,” it added.

This had enabled RGIA remain the preferred hub for people travelling from South and Central India, with airlines from Hyderabad being able to connect to any part of India within a flying time of less than two hours

On the other hand, internationally too, airlines from RGIA could connect fast to South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East within a flying time of four hours. The airport’s recent expansion also envisioned a proposed Minimum Connect Time of 45 minutes for Domestic to Domestic, 75 minutes for Domestic to International, 90 minutes for International to Domestic and 60 minutes for International to International.

·   RGIA is only airport in country where all 10 domestic airlines fly

·   In last two years, RGIA recovered faster than any other Metro Airport in India

·   Transfer traffic increased from 9% in 2015 to 26% in 2022

·   Hyderabad is now fourth busiest airport in India